Talk

If Jesus Really Rose…

Ben Stuart

March 31, 2024

Ben Stuart walks us through the final seven of our fifty implications of the resurrection and leads us to celebrate our risen Lord.

Key Takeaway

We have all the evidence we need to prove that the resurrection really happened. What Christ has done in our hearts and minds, giving us a future with Him and conquering death is the greatest news we could ever receive. The beneficial effects we have are because we have a cause found in Christ.

Paul is writing to the church in Corinth about the problem of people wanting to just enjoy the social, emotional, and moral benefits of spirituality while denying the supernatural element of Christ. They want the experience, but what they believe isn't real. You can't enjoy the full effects of a relationship if the relationship isn't real. The effects are predicated on a cause.

In order to experience true religion, joy, peace, and hope, you need a resurrected King.

Paul shows them the essentials, the evidence, and the effects of the resurrection.

The Essentials

1 Corinthians 15:1-2.

The Gospel is the foundation

1 Corinthians 15:3-5.

Christ died for our sins. Sin is dislocation from God. The dislocation from the Author of life is the absence of life. God did not want that, so Jesus took on our sins and death so we could have life with God again.

Christ was buried. This was a real death with a real body that went into a real grave.

Christ was raised. It's objective reality: He rose. There is real life beyond the grave.

Christ appeared to others. He ate and visited with hundreds of people.

The Evidence

1 Corinthians 15:3.

Authority. This was the official message. Paul passed on to them what he had received. Everyone agreed that this is the basic message; Jesus died and rose for our sins. If you don't believe that, you don't believe the Gospel.

Prophesy. Paul says "according to the Scriptures" twice because it had been prophesied hundreds of times hundreds of years earlier. See Isaiah 53, Psalm 110, Psalm 8.

1 Corinthians 15:5-7.

Testimony. This letter was written when most of the people that Jesus appeared to were still alive. Paul tells them, "Go talk to them." If you're making up a religion, you don't latch it to verifiable history. There were hundreds to talk to.

1 Corinthians 15:8-11.

Personal Experience. Paul tells his story. His life had been changed. The kindness of God had made him who he is.

The Effects

1 Corinthians 15:12-13.

Paul is questioning how some can question their own resurrection after they die. Jesus already proved that the resurrection is real.

If you don't believe in the resurrection of the dead, then you don't believe in the resurrection as an institution. If you don't believe that, then you won't believe that Christ was raised. If you don't believe that Jesus rose from the dead, then all the effects can't be true. You have to have the cause to have the effects.

1 Corinthians 15:14-16.

If it didn't really happen, then our preaching and our faith have been in vain.

We would be misrepresenting God, so not only would our message be empty, it would be bad and blasphemous. If what you're saying is not true, that makes you a liar.

1 Corinthians 15:17-18.

If Jesus did not really rise, then you and your family are still stuck in sin.

1 Corinthians 15:19.

If Jesus didn't really die, then you wouldn't say to someone, "I'm happy you have something to believe in that works for you."

If someone is believing a lie, you pity them.

1 Corinthians 15:20.

But, in fact, Christ has been raised!

First fruits are the first fruits of the harvest. Until that point, there is uncertainty, so when you see the crop, you throw a party. The first fruits are a guarantee that the second fruits are on the way.

Jesus didn't just happen to beat death; He's the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep. Jesus didn't just do something; He started something. He set into motion a series of events that will bring life to us.

1 Corinthians 15:21-24.

What was started with Adam was reversed by Christ. Death is not the end. See 1 Corinthians 15:56-58.

If all of this is really true, then what are the implications?

If the tomb is empty...

Our preaching is not in vain for deception. It has substance and is the most substantial message of life.

Your faith is not in vain. You've not wasted your life putting your hope in Jesus. He gave you evidence and testimonies so you can know that your meaning and future rest on the solid foundation of a God who died and rose. No man changed history like He did.

You are not still in your sins. See Isaiah 53:6. Jesus bore the iniquity of us all.

Those who have perished are alive. He's not just in our hearts and memories. If they put their hope in Jesus, death is not the end; they are very much alive.

We are not to be pitied; we are to be envied. We don't believe in a silly message; we believe in a holy and good one.

We will rise like Christ. He is the first fruit of what is to come. See 1 Corinthians 15:53-54.

Death will die, and all will be delivered to God in victory. If you're in Christ, your story does not end in tragedy.

The empty tomb has given us a full life in Him.

“

"The empty tomb has given us a full life in Him."

”

Ben Stuart

Discussion Questions

What is the problem that Paul is addressing in this letter to the church in Corinth?
If you want to experience the true effects of joy, peace, and hope, what has to be the cause of that?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. What are the four essentials that make the Gospel the foundation?
Paul wrote them with authority; what was the basic message that all of the disciples agreed upon? How did that message make it to Corinth in the first place?
What do Isaiah 53, Psalm 8, and Psalm 110 all have in common?
If the resurrection never happened, what would that mean for Christianity, your testimony, and your life?
What is the first fruit of the harvest? What is Jesus the first fruit of for us?
What was started in Adam and reversed in Christ? See 1 Corinthians 15:56-58.
One of the implications of the resurrection is that we are not still stuck in our sin. How does Isaiah 53:6 support this?
If you believe the Gospel to be true and have placed your faith, trust, and hope in Jesus, you carry a message that is life to others. Who is one person you can share that with this week?

Scripture References

1Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.

2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

5and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.

6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

11Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.

16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

27For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.

28When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Ben Stuart

Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church D.C. Prior to joining Passion City Church, Ben served as the executive director of Breakaway Ministries on the campus of Texas A&M. He also earned a master’s degree in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, live to inspire and equip people to walk with God for a lifetime.